Chương 1261: [1177] - Y06.077 - The Journey Begins I

"I'm sorry for stealing your husband away," Adam joked, bowing his head respectfully towards the future Chief.

"Since you gifted him to me, you may steal him," Merl replied, the beautiful woman letting out a small sigh, her eyes falling upon her husband, who was busy giving the villagers his greetings. They had all come to rely on Nobby, who worked as hard as any of them, not that they would admit such for a townboy like him. Especially after what happened last night, when the young man had held off two Reavers to allow the others to flee.

"Please return him to me safely."

"He might return a little rugged, but I'm sure someone as tough as Nobby will return, otherwise the rest of us stand no chance," Adam said, noting the woman's face quickly turning to displeasure at the thought.

'She's usually better at controlling her facial expressions.'

"Mommy," Merry called, the boy rubbing his eye as another brought him forward.

"I hope you're not too upset that I'm stealing your father," Adam joked, tickling the boy's nose, who retreated to his mother's bosom.

"Daddy…" Merry glanced towards his father, whose shadow swallowed him whole until he himself was finally swallowed within his father's large arms. Nobby's heart pounded wildly within his chest, but he slowed it with an intense focus.

"I will return."

'Nobby's shyer than Jurot, Merl's more courageous than Pam, but it's like looking at the two whenever I see them…' Adam smiled slightly.

"I'll make sure Nobby spends a lot of money to spoil Merry and you."

"That would be wonderful," Merl replied, a small smile encroaching across her lips. Since the half elf had all but promised to return Nobby to her, she was certain it would be fine, or there would be many families who would grieve. Later in the day, as the sun reached its zenith over the carriages, Adam gasped.

"Oooh!" Adam called out of the blue, reaching up to rub his forehead.

'She looked a little sick, but she's gained weight? Either she's depressed, or…'

"Okay?" Jurot asked.

"We need to work hard in order to spoil all the children," Adam said, his eyes taking in the sight of the large auroch of a man nearby.

"Isn't that right, Nobby?"

"Yes, mister boss," he replied, thinking nothing of Adam's words.

"You realised it now?" Jurot asked.

"You knew?"

"Yes."

"Why did you not tell me?"

"It is fun to see you realise it eventually," Jurot admitted shamelessly.

"We're only a day into our journey and you're already bullying me?"

"Yes." The carriages rolled into the second village, which hadn't expected visitors from that side, especially one that was three carriages long. Chief Terry barely recognised the flags the carriage flew, only realising who they were once the peculiar fellow stepped out. Adam clasped the Chief's forearm, before handing him a small wooden box, that was about the size of his gauntleted fist, easily containing a hundred coins, but with how little the coins jangled, it was certainly filled near to the brim.

However, the Chief's eyes remained completely focused upon the half elf's forehead.

'He's no Iyrman, is he?'

"I hope you don't mind that we only brought a few silver and gold," Adam said, bowing his head apologetically.

"We've been… a little busy."

"Of course," Terry replied.

"You already pay so much, I'm sure you have overpaid this time too." Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Well… just a little?" Adam flashed an awkward smile, his heart riddled with guilt still.

"I, uh, anyway… I wanted to warn you about the Reavers. Be especially careful because each Reaver is strong. Extremely strong."

"Yes, we were informed by the Iyr," Chief Terry replied, flashing an awkward smile in return.

"Thank you for your warning." Amokan noted the Iyrmen nearby, the Grandmaster, the Master, and the three Experts.

'If they have sent this few…' The group handed out their gold coins to the villagers who had offered their own homes for them, and though the coin was the business's coin, Adam had made sure everyone handed it out from their own hands, making sure the villagers felt positive both about the business and the individual people of the business. Brittany let out a low sigh, feeling the stress of handing out a gold coin.

Even though she earned a gold each day, closer to a gold and a silver each, her heart trembled when she parted with the coin. Even though this gold wasn't actually hers, but the business's coin that Adam had spread out towards each of them, she couldn't shake off the feeling of poverty which had been so thoroughly engraved within her heart. Even spending silvers caused her to sweat, but a whole gold? It didn't cost a gold to… The woman winced, tensing up, her eyes shut tight.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and she glanced down towards her bow. Deadwood. The dark wood was called deadwood, or rather, deadwood minor, since it was not the true form of the wood. She had received it when she assisted Jurot. When was it? Brittany tried to recall exactly when it had happened, but she supposed it didn't matter, since she could always ask Jurot. It was unlikely it happened within the first year they met. Her thoughts fell back to her youth.

'Outsiders pay more gold because they have more coin.' Brittany was still surprised at the gulf between them all. Villagers did not earn much metal, for their taxes were not paid in coin, but produce. Since there were only a handful of villages across all of Aldland, it mattered little that they did not earn coin, for as long as they handed out their sacks of grain to Eagle Wing and Red Oak, Aldland did not make a fuss over them.

It was the Iyr, however, who cared for them, and took over an almost parental role over the villages. Brittany didn't ask too many questions about that, even after she left the village. Though the fort was not so far away, she did not see any soldiers in this village, but she did see Iyrmen, as always. The woman's thoughts fell to the town they were heading to, Red Oak.

It was a smaller town, that was true enough, however, a small town in Aldland was still a great town comparatively to other towns across the lands, Brother Dunes had said as much. Whereas the villagers of her village dealt with copper, if they dealt with coin at all, In Red Oak the people dealt in silver. Yes, the commoners still handed out coppers and the like, but their wages were paid in silver.

Nobby had told her how he could earn multiple silvers each day as a porter, though often times his coinage was two silver for each day, a princely sum for a young man, and yet how many days did he need to work to call for a Priest for his father? An entire year or so, after all the taxes? Then there was the gulf between commoners and nobles. Brittany recalled how easy it was for Adam to spend gold.

He passed chests to the brim of silver, and even the chest of coin he had given to the Order of the Wings, which had been full of mostly silver, but also held stacks of gold, and even gems! She was no longer a villager. She was no commoner within the town, who made roughly ten gold each month if they were lucky, and more if they were fawned upon by a wealthier patron. She earned thirty gold each month. Thirty!

Even as she handed a single gold to the villager, the face that looked back towards her was the face of a younger Brittany, full of delight to see the glint of gold. Now? Now she carried a deadwood bow. At her sides she carried a pair of magical shortblades. Her pouch, made of hydra leather which she had assisted in slaying, was full of gold, and not even her own, yet she could spend it freely, and she would still hold such a massive hoard within the business. Was this… right?

Her village was full of labourers who worked from essentially sun up to sun down, if not upon the fields, at home, and they lived day to day. Meanwhile, she would work for half a day, and that included a light guard duty around the Iyr's land, along with teaching a child how to use a bow, and… that was pretty much it.

"Your thoughts are heavy," called a voice from the darkness. Brittany's heart pounded, her entire body flashing hot with fear, and if it wasn't for her body reminding her about the familiar voice, she would have died from a heart attack or by attacking someone as terrifying as Kitool.

"Y-yes!"

"Do you wish to speak of them?"

"N-no, it's alright, it's just…" Kitool remained silent as the young woman calmed herself, though as she did, the awkwardness in the air grew.

"It's nothing, Executive." Kitool bowed her head, dropping down in the corner of the room to begin to meditate. Kitool was used to it, since she was an Iyrman, and because she was a much higher rank than the woman, there was a resistance against Brittany's throat. They should have brought along someone like Charley for Brittany to speak to, or perhaps Nobby would work? The next day, the group made their way out, making their way to Lipetal, the village closest to Red Oak. Brittany stared out towards those walls.

They were familiar to her, even after all these years. Her eyes fell to the nearby woods, cleared and replanted, for the next generation to harvest. It had been a short while since she had passed by here, nor seen the rest of her village, the people she had grown up alongside. What was that she felt within her heart? Regret? Guilt? Pride?